Elder Abuse: A Short Story

Many cases family members are the ones committing elder abuse, they think taking money from the elders is fine, what do they need it for? However, that’s not the case. The money does not belong to them; therefore they do not have the right to be touching that money, which is considered financial abuse.

Financial elder abuse is a prominent issue in the world, and will continue to increase due to financial burdens the Millennials will face in their upcoming years. The fear of Social Security benefit reductions as well as the increase of college tuition prices, will add to future financial elder abuse incidents.

What are the risk factors of elder financial exploitation? In a study conducted by the University of Virginia, there are four predominant types of elder maltreatment. This includes pure financial exploitation (PFE), physical abuse, neglect by others or self, and hybrid financial exploitation (HFE). PFE is elder financial exploitation without any other abuse cited. PFE is usually conducted by unknown individuals to the elderly victim, as in mortgage or home improvement scams. HFE is a combination of elder financial exploitation that includes neglect and/or abuse. HFE usually occurs when the victim is dependent on their caregiver who has power and authority over them. This study addressed the understudied societal problems of financial

Firstly, financial abuse is defined as the illegal or improper use of funds or assets that do not belong to oneself (British Columbia Law Institute, 2011). In a NBC article by Herb Weisbaum (2011), he talks about why the elderly become targets of financial abuse, “Con artists also prey on older people, because as a group they control a tremendous amount of this country’s wealth. And in many cases, poor health — both physical and mental — makes them easy targets for financial predators” (para.

Scheidet, R.A. (2003). Improving Student Achievement by Infusing a Web-Based Curriculum into Global History. Journal Of Research on Technology in Education. International Society for Technology in Education, 36(1), 77-94. Retrieved from: Ashford University Library

Are nursing homes abusing and neglecting the elderly? The elderly are abused and neglected in society today by caregivers in nursing homes. Elder abuse or neglect is a single or repeated action occurring within any relationship where there is an overlook of trust which causes injury or distress to an older person.

Financial elder abuse has become an epidemic because it is a crime that lives in the shadows, and as long as it remains there, the list of victims is sure to grow. Approximately 12% of the cases reported to the National Center on Elder Abuse relate to finances, and the cost to the elderly and vulnerable victim averages $30,000. It is impossible to get accurate numbers on the radically underreported crime since the victims feels shame or are afraid of losing autonomy. Some estimates put the rate of reporting at just 1 in 44 cases of financial fraud.

Nurses confront numerous dilemmas throughout their professional lives. The different types of dilemmas include, but are not limited to, ethical, moral, and legal dilemmas. These are the three most common dilemmas in nursing. A dilemma can be defined in many different ways. But all dilemmas are situations in which you have to make a difficult choice. Chiaranai (2011) states that an “ethical dilemma is a circumstance that arises from fundamental conflicts between ethical beliefs, duties, principles and theories” (p. 250). Therefore, an ethical dilemma forces the nurse to address thought on what is right and what the harm might be to the patient.

In recent years, the shameful subject of elder abuse has gained more awareness among community members. In particular, the complexity of elder financial abuse often makes manipulative dealings by fraudsters difficult to identify and separate from actual permissive transactions made by older victims. The result is that these cases are very rarely prosecuted and many other undetected cases continue to fall far below the radar of society. The consequences of financial exploitation of older adults are reaching far beyond the immediate distress of financial depletion. Victims may also experience declines in physical and mental health as well as the risk of a decrease in life expectancy (Kemp & Mosqueda, 2005). The purpose of the following

Is it worth putting your loved ones in a nursing home facility? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited.” Family members of an elderly person might assume that because they are paying such a large amount of money for assistance and a room in the facility, that they’re getting the best treatment and care for their relative. Although one might believe their loved ones would be better off in a nursing home, they might be putting them at a greater risk of abuse due to understaffing, lack of training within the staff, neglect, nurse burnout, and low wages. 2,150,000 cases

Elders in the United States should not have to go through situations of abuse like the one Mildred Mortenson suffered. However, this type of situations happen more often than they should and sadly, there is not enough being done to prevent it. Elder abuse should be recognized as an increasing and very serious problem in our society. As elders grow more physically frail and begin to depend on others to meet their basic needs, they tend to become vulnerable to intentional abuse and neglect within their own home as well as assisted living facilities such as nursing homes. Unfortunately, it is not possible to know exactly how many elders are being abused across the Nation. Due to under-reporting, variations in the definition of elder abuse,

The general assessment findings regarding the patient ranked the general assessment as very poor regarding clothing, hygiene, nutrition and/or dehydration, and poor findings regarding skin integrity. The general assessment showed that the patients clothing were not clean; saturated with urine and food stains. In regards to nutrition this ranked very poor as well, considering the patient has lost 10 pounds since her last hospitalization only two weeks ago. This weight loss also could be because of dehydration or nutritional imbalance; further labs will need to be completed to decide if weight loss was regarding nutrition, dehydration or both. Albumin levels will be assessed for nutritional status (Bharadwaj, 2016). Skin integrity ranked a poor on the scale. The diffused red abrasions noted in sacral area could be a stage 1 ulcer. (Advanced Tissue, April 2014). Being unkempt, soiled and dirty is large warning sign of neglect especially for elderly patients (HelpingGuide.org, 2017).

Elder abuse is a broad term that encompasses 6 different types of abuse: Physical Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Abandonment, Neglect, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, and Financial Exploitation. Of these, financial exploitation is the third most commonly substantiated type of abuse with an estimated financial loss of $2.6 Billion per year. (Elder Abuse Fact Sheet 2010) One study showed that 41 of every 1,000 residents in New York were the victim of major financial exploitation, but only 1 in 44 cases of were actually reported to the authorities. (Lifespan of Greater Rochester Inc., Weill Cornell Medical Center of Cornell University, and New York City Department for the Aging 2011) What is financial exploitation and who is at risk? Why is there such a

As a radiologist in the emergency room or a doctor’s office we come across tell tail signs of abuse in the elderly population. While other health care providers may just see injuries related to typical falls due to weakness and age, the radiologist have become gate keepers and play a key role in identifying abuse. The geriatric patient is vulnerable and are often abused by their caregivers. According to researchers at the Radiological Society of North America, one must think abuse when an older person presents with subdural hematomas, bruises to the head and neck, maxillofacial and dental injuries and even upper extremity injuries (Lowry, 2012).

Natalie, I enjoyed reading your post. Elder abuse is an area that really pulls on my heart strings. Working at a long-term care facility and having a servant’s heart for the elderly, I do not understand how anyone could ever abuse or neglect an aging adult. As a health care professional it is important that we are educated on elder abuse and are able to identify patients that may be abused or neglected. The World Health (n.d.) reports “Prevention starts with awareness. One important way to raise awareness – both among the public and concerned professionals – is through education and training” (p. 142). I agree that emotional and psychological abuse of the elderly can be nearly impossible to identify at times, despite the efforts of a trained